Cymryd Rhan is a charity that has been supporting the people and communities of Wales for nearly 40 years. The charity was originally set up by a group of parents who were struggling to find support for their children once their special education finished and who were not eligible for statutory services. Those families drove strong values in engagement, equality, opportunity and inclusion. Those values underpin everything we do today by placing each person we support at the very heart of what we do.
Cymryd Rhan took over the Flying Start Childcare provision in Galon Uchaf known as Plant Hapus @ Cymryd Rhan a couple of years ago and have been working closely with families and staff. We are finding that now we have built up those relationships through trust and confidence, we are seeing a significant increase in demand for support with financial concerns, general feelings around well-being and being part of a community. Every 1 in 3 children in Merthyr Tydfil live in poverty. And we want to help.
So, what is our project all about? Is it about providing families in Galon Uchaf with financial skills like budgeting to help them out of the poverty trap? Yes it is. Is it about teaching the children financial skills so that they break the cycle of relying on benefits? Yes it is.
BUT IT IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. It is also about showing confidence in them so that they have confidence in themselves. It is about holding their hand whilst they build skills that will take them from the benefits system into employment or even self employment. It is about breaking the cycle and ultimately eradicating child poverty in Merthyr Tydfil. It is about changing the way they think about themselves.
A bold statement? Of course it is..........but then bold statements followed up by bold actions and deeds lead to REAL change. And that is what Cymryd Rhan is all about - REAL change.
One young mother whose child goes to Plant Hapus @ Cymryd Rhan lives alone in council property with her 4 children whose ages range from 2 to 8 years old. One of the children has ADHD. All of the children go to different schools/childcare settings so she has very little time to herself. She relies on the benefits system to survive - she has to. But she has a dream. She would like to set up her own Nail Bar but she cannot see a way out of the benefit trap to achieve her dream. We want YOU to help US to help HER to achieve her dream by providing her with the skills and most importantly, confidence to do it and to change the way she sees herself.
Our project will pay for that dedicated support for her and other families living in Galon Uchaf over a 6 month period. Of course we don't want to stop there but it will be a start - a start of something wonderful......REAL change.
"No Nick - we said BOLD not BALD!"